Posted on 10/13/2008 3:26:12 PM PDT by jazusamo
One of the oldest phenomena of American elections— criticism of one's opponent— has in recent times been stigmatized by much of the media as "negative advertising."
Is this because the criticism has gotten more vicious or more personal? You might think so, if you were totally ignorant of history, as so many of the graduates of even our elite universities are.
Although Grover Cleveland was elected President twice, he had to overcome a major scandal that he had fathered a child out of wedlock, which was considered more of a disgrace then than today. Even giants like Lincoln and Jefferson were called names that neither McCain nor Obama has been called.
Why then is "negative advertising" such a big deal these days? The dirty little secret is this: Liberal candidates have needed to escape their past and pretend that they are not liberals, because so many voters have had it with liberals.
In 1988, Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts called himself a "technocrat," a pragmatic solver of problems, despite a classic liberal track record of big spending, big taxes, and policies that were anti-business and pro-criminal.
When the truth about what he actually did as governor was brought out during the Presidential election campaign, the media were duly shocked— not by Dukakis' record, but by the Republicans' exposing his record.
John Kerry, with a very similar ultra-liberal record, topped off by inflammatory and unsubstantiated attacks on American military men in Vietnam, disdained the whole process of labeling as something unworthy. And the mainstream media closed ranks around him as well, deploring those who labeled Kerry a liberal.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
Thanks, jazusamo.
It is our loss that Thomas Sowell and people like him are not interested in running for Office. What a wonderful Senator he would’ve been.
Amen. Thomas Sowell is a national treasure.
Thanks for the ping. A classic indeed! Thanks for posting. HOORAY Thomas Sowell!
Killer video, loved it. Unfortunately, you must remember the following quote.
You cannot reason someone out of a position that they did not use reason to get into in the first place. - Alexander Pope
This would be a pretty good sing-a-long!
Love Sowell, anytime...anywhere.
McCain/Palin, doing the vetting the MSM refuses to do.
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